10.Scandium.
This rare earth metal is named after Scandinavia, where it was discovered in the last quarter of the 19th century and where its largest deposits are located. Its main applications are in all kinds of high-tech fields, from rocket and satellite construction to lasers and robots. Due to its enviable strength, the metal is also often used in the production of premium sports equipment. Pure scandium is not used in the jewelry sphere, but its oxide is used to make fianites. The price is about three dollars per gram.
9. rhenium
The existence of rhenium was predicted by Mendeleev half a century before its discovery by a group of German scientists. Because of the rather unique physical properties of rhenium, which has one of the highest melting temperatures, it is used in large quantities in the chemical and electronics industries, where this quality is especially important. The metal is worth about five dollars a gram, and the major reserves are located in Chile.
8. Osmium
Heavy and fragile at the same time, this bluish-silver metal does not exist in its pure form, occurring only in combination with iridium. Osmium is particularly abundant in the Urals and Siberia, and is used mainly in pharmacology. The price of this beauty ranges from $12 to $17 per gram.
For many years, platinum has been valued above gold, so many will be surprised by the lower position of this metal on the list. Although a few hundred years ago, on the contrary, the Spanish conquistadors valued it even cheaper than silver because of the problems of melting it. The main uses of platinum to this day are in the jewelry and medical industries.
6.Iridium
This metal was discovered simultaneously with the aforementioned osmium, and its high concentration in the rock attests to its cosmic origin, meaning that iridium and osmium came to Earth with meteorites. Iridium is not used purely as such, but is added to alloys, along with platinum, for example, which makes jewelry and rocket components practically eternal. Iridium costs about 50 dollars a gram.
5. Gold
This metal is known to mankind since ancient times and very quickly earned the status of the medium of exchange, although in Russia, the first deposit was discovered only in the 18th century. About 10 percent of gold goes to industry, the rest is distributed among ingots of gold reserve of states and jewelry.
4.Palladium
Another platinum group metal, also widely used by jewelers all over the world. It is easy to melt and very light, so the most outstanding jewelry is made of Palladium. The more pleasing is the fact that the largest deposit is located in Russia. It costs a pretty penny for this miracle, around $60 per gram.
3. Rhodium
The main properties of this precious metal are its powerful ability to reflect light and its resistance to environmental influences, so rhodium is added to a wide variety of jewelry alloys. The automobile industry has also been quick to capitalize on its beneficial qualities. In Rwanda, coins made of rhodium act as legal tender, and the price of this miracle reaches up to two hundred dollars per gram, making it the most expensive natural metal.
2.Osmium-187.
The densest metal on the planet, which is extracted under laboratory conditions in an extremely long and labor-intensive process from the isotope rhenium. Osmium-187 is used in the manufacture of precision instruments and as a catalyst for chemical reactions. Its price comes to two hundred thousand dollars, though no one trades it on the world market except Kazakhstan.
1.californium-252
The world stock of this artificially produced miracle is only 8 grams! The price is appropriate - from 4 million dollars and higher. A gram of this metal contains so much energy that it would easily put a solid nuclear reactor under your belt in terms of power. In addition to nuclear power, cheaper californium isotopes are used in the treatment of cancer.
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